ABOUT THIS BLOG

"A Faithful Attempt" is designed to showcase a variety of K-12 art lessons, the work of my art students, as well as other art-related topics. Projects shown are my take on other art teacher's lessons, lessons found in books or else designed by myself. Thanks for visiting!

Friday, July 27, 2012

This is a clay project I did a while back when I taught a clay hand-building course

to a class of 6 and 7 year olds. This was one of the final projects we did and I have to say it was quite challenging for them but overall, they did a great job! I found the idea for the lesson here on the Bryn Mawr school website in Baltimore. You can see their lovely finished examples on their website; unfortunately I didn't get any finished pics of my kids final glazed pieces.

Roll out the clay so it's about 1/4" thick. For my young students, I have them hold up their thumbs and tell them the clay can't be any thinner than their thumb, or it will crack and break as it dries.

Then, punch out some shapes using a cookie cutter. Lay these inside the bowl mold

(we used a bunch of bisque fired bowls we have specifically for making handmade bowls, but a paper plate bowl works well also.) Slightly overlap each shape and carefully 'scratch and attach' using water (I never use slip- plain water works just as well) and a fork or toothbrush. Smooth out any rough edges with your finger and a bit of water. Keep overlapping and filling the bowl shape until you have the size you want.

Let these dry slowly in the mold until leather hard, remove from the mold (a couple days later), let dry another few days or so, bisque fire, then paint them or glaze them.

About Me

Favourite Quote

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” - Henry David Thoreau